Keeper of the Mind
by illman
Summary: “Who are you to judge who lives and who dies? You have always survived.”
1. Chapter 1

Title: Keeper of the Mind

Author: Illman aka hexicode

Fandom/pairing: Doctor Who, no pairing

Summary: "Who are you to judge who lives and who dies? You have always survived."

Rating: teen

Warnings: none

Spoilers: up to _The Doctor Dances_

Disclaimer: The characters and settings aren't mine. No profit is being made, this is for entertainment only.

A/N: Beta-read by the lovely DianeM who amazes me every time. Thanks!

oOo

"Doctor, there is something wrong with…the TARDIS," Rose finished, taking in the scene in the console room. When the toaster had spontaneously set itself on fire, Rose had suspected the Doctor had tried to fix it again. But when the gravity in the TARDIS kitchen had suddenly cut out, she had known that something was wrong. Deciding to forgo slapping Jack for laughing at her flopping around in a rather ungainly fashion after she had suddenly become weightless, Rose had rushed off to the control room as soon as she had gotten back on her feet, gravity restored.

Smoke was rising from the central console, forming a thick, dark cloud beneath the vaulted ceiling. The normally soft hum of the engines had been replaced by an almost shrieking sound. The Doctor seemed oblivious to it all as he was darting around the console, pushing buttons and mumbling something the TARDIS didn't seem inclined to translate.

"Doctor?" Rose tried again.

The Doctor stopped and looked up. "I'm busy."

"I can see that." Rose suppressed a smirk. The Doctor's face was smeared with traces of soot. There were even a few smears on his jacket. Rose had never seen the Doctor look quite this rattled before. "What happened?"

"Slight accident," the Doctor told her with a grimace. "I dropped a cup of tea on the console."

"You did what?"

"Don't laugh! Being around you lot has to be rubbing off on me."

The Doctor's protests were cut off by a shrill alarm. The TARDIS was starting to shake. Instantly, he was all business again.

"Oh no! This is bad." The lights started to flicker rapidly.

"What's happening?" Rose asked, yelling over the deafening alarm. The TARDIS was now shaking so badly, she had to hold on to the railing to keep from falling down. She'd never thought the TARDIS could actually crash, but now she was rapidly revising that particular misconception.

"We've materialised inside a planet's atmosphere. The gravity is pulling us down."

"Can't we just dematerialize again?"

"I'm trying. The dematerialization circuit must have been damaged..."

Suddenly the Doctor broke off and lunged at her, bringing her down to the floor. Before Rose could protest, there was a blinding white flash and everything exploded.

oOo

Rose's ears were ringing and smoke was burning in her throat. She opened her eyes. To her surprise, she found that the TARDIS was in one piece. She grappled to her feet and spotted Jack and the Doctor hovering over the damaged console, tossing back and forth technical terms. Somewhat miffed that she had been forgotten about, Rose headed for the TARDIS doors to find out where their unplanned landing at taken them.

Outside was a pleasant spring day in the countryside. At first glance there was nothing unearthly about it, but the chances that they had actually crashed on Earth, of all places, were slim. However she wouldn't put it past the Doctor or the TARDIS for that matter to have managed once again to take them to Earth. No matter were the Doctor wanted to go, they always seemed to end up on her home planet. Not that any place was ever boring when the Doctor was involved, but Rose was itching to see an alien planet for a change. If a crash landing was what it took, she wasn't going to complain. Casting a look back at Jack and the Doctor, Rose stepped outside.

The TARDIS had set down on a small hill, overlooking a plane of grassland. Sprinkled between expanses of untouched nature were a number of small fields. A few figures in colourful clothes appeared to be tending to them. Rose grinned, her first alien planet, complete with aliens. Granted, she had met her fair share of aliens while travelling in the TARDIS, but the majority, not counting the Doctor himself, had been out to kill, eat or exterminate her. Hopefully, this planet would turn out to be a nice change of pace. Rose was so busy picturing what an alien planet might be like, she almost forgot that they were stranded.

"He can fix the TARDIS, but it's going to take a while." Jack came walking up to her. "I never thought I'd see the Doctor be mad at himself. I think I even heard him apologize to the TARDIS."

The mental image of the Doctor petting and whispering to his TARDIS made Rose giggle. "So, this means a day at the beach for us?"

Jack shot her a quizzical look. "Beach? I don't think we'll find one anywhere near here, but I wouldn't mind a visit to the local bar."

"What makes you think there will be a bar any more than a beach?" Rose gestured to the peasant folk who seemed to be toiling away in the fields without noticing that they were being watched by two strangers who had just walked out of a blue police box.

"There is always a bar. Always. Trust me." Jack thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"All right. Let's have a look around," Rose agreed happily. Maybe without the Doctor along, they would be able to stay out of trouble for once.

oOo

Even though they had cut through the fields for a shortcut, they had been walking for nearly an hour until they reached the village. It was actually more of a town, an expanse of cream-coloured buildings sprawled out in a valley, overlooked by snow-covered peaks in the distance.

The village itself didn't disappoint either. Most houses lay behind small gardens planted with exotic looking flower and trees with purple leaves. While Jack was navigating the narrow streets with purpose as if some internal radar was pointing him into the direction of the supposed bar, Rose didn't know where to look first.

They followed the winding streets to a large open square buzzing with life. Merchants were loudly advertising all manner of goods; produce, fabrics, even animals. Their voices mixed with the sounds of strange, but pleasant music. Rose had a hard time following Jack through the crowd; there seemed hardly enough place for everyone to stand, let along walk or conduct business. None of the locals, however, seemed bothered by the noise or the crowds. Although she and Jack were bound to stick out among the villagers in their flowing, colourful robes, no one even seemed to notice them.

When they finally made it across the square, they found the source of the music. It was coming from an imposing building. It was far larger than any of the houses they had passed. The actual building was set back from the street and a long series of steps led up to it. With guards standing by the open entrance, it seemed important and official.

"Did you hear that?" Jack suddenly asked and Rose was fairly certain that he didn't mean the music. Rose strained to listen, but she could hear nothing unusual among the general noise.

"No, I can't…"

Rose was cut short by a woman's voice, crying and pleading. It was coming from the large building.

_No, please, don't. Let me go. Please let me go. I promise I will never do it again. Please don't kill me. It was all a mistake. I love my children…please, you can't do this…_

Jack was already half-way up the stairs, by the time the woman broke into a scream. Rose didn't need more than a split second to decide to follow him, ignoring the nagging bad feeling at the edge of her mind.

oOo

By the time Rose ran past the confused looking guards, Jack was nowhere to be seen. Rose did her best to follow the screams through the maze of dimly lit corridors, hoping that she'd find Jack before the guards caught up with them. Her lungs were burning by the time she heard Jack's blaster discharge. She found him around the next bend inside a large hall.

Under other circumstances, Rose would be fascinated by the intricate mosaics that covered the walls and extended to the domed ceiling. In the flickering light of hundreds of candles, the images seemed to move on their own. The center of the hall was taken up by a gigantic crystal that was glowing so brightly Rose couldn't look directly at it. At the foot of it, a woman was slumped on the floor, obviously the victim of Jack's blaster.

"Let her go or I'll shoot you too," Jack demanded, keeping his blaster aimed at a group of women surrounding a woman in white robes whose ankles and wrists were tied.

"You have no right to be here." An elderly woman stepped to the front, unimpressed by Jack's weapon. "This in none of your concern."

"I think I should be concerned when you are about to kill someone."

"You don't understand. She is unwell. The Keeper will heal her." The woman nodded to the others, who grabbed their prisoner and started dragging her towards the crystal. The tied-up woman, who had been sobbing quietly until now, started screaming.

Jack fired once, at the woman in charge, but she seemed to simply absorb the blast, not even flinching when she was hit.

"Seize them," the woman commanded someone behind them. Rose whirled around, but before Jack could get off another shot, one of the guards simply raised his hand and a bright blue beam struck Jack in the chest. He fell to the floor without making a sound. Rose was about to rush over to him when strong arms seized her from behind.

"We don't wish to harm you, but if you fight us, we'll have no choice."

"What did you do to Jack?" Rose demanded. To her relief, Jack was already starting to stir.

"He'll be fine." A guard pulled Jack to his feet. Jack still seemed out of it, but he was standing with some help.

"What are you going to do with us?" Rose asked, not sure she wanted to know. Right now would be a good time for the Doctor to show up, but since they had wandered off without even telling him, he had no way of knowing where they were.

"The Keeper will decide your fate," the woman solemnly declared.

"We don't even know what we've done. If we've committed some sort of crime, shouldn't there at least be a trial, or something?"

"There is no reason to be afraid. The keeper has never harmed anyone." The woman's voice softened.

"That's….good. So why don't you let us go?" Rose asked, wishing Jack would be the one doing the talking. He was bound to have wriggled himself out of a lot of tight spots, but Jack was still staring dazedly into space.

"You are confused and that is understandable. You are a danger to yourselves. We only want to help you."

"What does that mean? We can leave if that's what you want…" Rose hoped the Doctor had fixed up the TARDIS by now.

"I'm afraid we cannot rely on the word of a stranger." The woman smiled sadly as if regretting what she was about to do, but before Rose could launch a further protest; she was being pulled towards the large crystal. Suddenly she was released and everyone backed away. Jack was standing next to her, somewhat unsteady on his feet. Rose was ready to bolt, determined to drag Jack along if she had to, when the woman spoke again.

"The second shot isn't as harmless as the first. It is really in your best interest to follow through with the ritual."

Rose swallowed hard, trying to think of something to save them. What would the Doctor do in her place, she wondered.

"What do we have to do?" Rose finally asked. Maybe the woman was right, and they wouldn't be harmed. She seriously doubted that, but it probably beat being shot.

"Touch the crystal."

Rose looked over to Jack, but there was no sign he had a plan that would get them out of the situation. He didn't even seem to know what was going on.

Rose took Jack's hand and stepped forward to touch the crystal.

oOo

The Doctor stepped back to admire his work. It had taken him almost six hours, but considering that for a while he'd been wondering if the TARDIS would ever get off the ground again, he was doing pretty well.

While he had noticed the conspicuous absence of his companions, he hadn't really had the time or headspace to give the issue much thought. But now that he was finished tinkering and the TARDIS had kindly informed him that his passengers were not on board, the Doctor was starting to wonder and worry.

It wasn't that he didn't trust his companions, but he had long stopped counting how many times he'd had to chase after a wandering companion.

It was already dark outside. It was the kind of inky darkness people on planets like Earth never got to see, at least not in Rose's time. Most of them didn't realize how dark and silent the night was without streetlamps, 24/7 businesses and restaurants or cars. Luckily, the Doctor had far better night vision than most humans and it didn't take him long to find the very small, faint light coming from the settlement.

The dark streets didn't bother the Doctor, but he was certain that nothing other than a local tavern could keep Jack and Rose in a town where nothing seemed to happen after sundown. There wasn't a single person to be seen in the entire town. Only when the Doctor reached the village square, he found the source of the light and confirmation that the town was populated at all.

The Doctor hurried up the steps to the large building, approaching the guards flanking the open entrance.

"Hey, I was wondering of you could help me out."

The guards looked at, but didn't deign him worthy of an answer.

"I'm looking for a girl – she has blonde hair. She was with a man…"

"You mean the two who desecrated the image of the Keeper?"

That didn't bode well.

"I guess I'm looking for them. What happened to them?" The Doctor asked, resigned to break Jack and Rose out of jail.

"The Keeper has taken care of them."

"HHHHTaken care of them? How?"

"They were confused, their minds were astray, but the Keeper has taken care of them. You do not need to worry about them anymore."

The Doctor had been more annoyed than worried until know, but this had a very bad ring to it.

"Listen. I'm a friend of theirs. I need to talk to them. Where can I find them?" The guards looked at him blankly. The Doctor was wondering if the TARDIS translation circuit was working right, when a woman came out of the doorway. She was wearing a simple dark green robe, but carried herself with confidence. Still, she gave a small bow in front of the Doctor, before looking up at him.

"What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for a friend…two friends actually," the Doctor repeated.

"Yes, I know." The woman smiled. "Strangers are a very rare sight here. It has been many generations since we last had visitors from beyond the hills."

"We'll be on our way as soon as I can find my friends."

"I can see that you are worried about them, but the Keeper has taken care of them. Now we will take care of them."

"At least let me talk to them," the Doctor pleaded. Once he knew who the 'Keeper' was and what they had done with Jack and Rose, he could figure out a way to get them back to the TARDIS.

"The girl isn't here anymore, but I can take you to see your friend. Maybe then, you'll understand that he is well now," the woman admitted. She turned around and the Doctor followed her into the building.

oOo

When the Doctor finally set eyes on Jack, his worst fears were confirmed. The woman had led him along a series of corridors in what seemed like a temple or monastery. She had finally stopped at the end of a long corridor in front of a small room shielded with a curtain.

Not waiting for permission, the Doctor had pushed his way inside. The room filled with the thick smell of burning incense and the only light came from a single candle standing on a small desk. Jack was lying on the bed. He seemed caught in a nightmare, turning restlessly and mumbling unintelligible words. A young woman, also dressed in green robes, sat at his bedside.

"What did you do to him?" the Doctor demanded angrily. The older woman only smiled sadly. "He's fine, now."

"Fine?" The Doctor pushed away the young woman to check on Jack himself. Whatever he was experiencing, it was no ordinary nightmare. The Doctor didn't need to consciously reach out to pick up on the jumble of fear, anger and grief radiating from Jack.

"He's not fine. He's dying! What did you do to his mind?"

"It wasn't our intention. The Keeper would never have intentionally harmed him. It must have been an accident," the woman apologized.

"Who's this Keeper?" the Doctor asked. Both women looked at him with shocked expressions.

"Oh, never mind. I need to get him back to my ship. Can any of you help me carry him?" The Doctor earned only more stunned looks in response. Neither of the women made any attempt to help him.

"Can you really save him?" the younger woman finally asked in a small voice.

"I think so, if I'm right about what's wrong with him. Is there anything you can tell me about what happened?"

"This never happened before. Some get a headache after meeting the Keeper, but no one has ever gotten sick like this."

"What exactly does the Keeper do?"

"She performs a healing ritual. It's only supposed to help people who have become …lost and confused. Without the Keeper, there would be nothing but chaos and violence," the younger woman explained reluctantly. "The Keeper maintains the balance of all things."

When the Doctor noticed that Jack's breathing was starting to become ragged, he abandoned his line of questioning. "Can you get someone to help me carry him?" He asked again instead.

"Yes, I'll get one of the guards to help you," the older woman finally agreed and hurried from the room.

oOo

The Doctor had finally gotten Jack back to the TARDIS, with the reluctant help of one of the temple guards.

A quick scan had confirmed what he had already suspected. In whatever way the Demarans had intended to mess with Jack's mind, they'd set off a severe psychic shock. The Doctor wasn't sure what had caused it, but whatever memories Jack's mind was trapped in, his body was taking a beating, analogous to whatever he was reliving. The Doctor couldn't do more than help Jack push back his memories for a few hours, but hopefully it would be enough to learn what had really happened and where Rose was. If Rose was in a similar state as Jack, she didn't have a few hours, but there was nothing the Doctor could do for her now, except hope that Jack would be able to tell him something.

The Doctor took a deep breath to steady himself. Then he put his hands on Jack's temples and let the memories flood his mind.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

oOo

The Doctor was floating through a whirlwind of images and sounds, feeling like he was being pulled in different directions, each one holding one of Jack's memories. Not knowing where to go, the Doctor let Jack's mind guide him.

Suddenly it stopped and the Doctor found himself standing in a dark storage vault. Jack was there, talking to a man the Doctor didn't recognize. Their voices were muffled and the Doctor couldn't make out the words.

Jack pulled the man into a hug, pulling out a gun at the same time. He quietly shot the man in the back and watched him fall to the ground. At first, the Doctor thought the man was dead, but when he stepped in closer, he could see that the man was still breathing. The Doctor waited.

Jack stood over the man watching, appearing to enjoy his handiwork. He kneeled down and produced a small disk from his pocket. The Doctor didn't recognize that particular design, but he knew what was about to happen. He'd been at the receiving end of a mind probe before and hadn't enjoyed the experience. It had in fact nearly killed him on some of those occasions. Mind probes were outlawed virtually everywhere by the 51st century, but they were still used widely, so he wasn't surprised that the Time Agency had gotten hold of them.

Jack attached the small disc to the man's temple and activated it via a handheld control. The man started screaming almost immediately, writhing in pain on the floor. The Doctor was neither shocked nor surprised by the man's agony. It was a memory he was merely reliving by proxy. There was nothing he could do to change what was happening. However the smile on Jack's face surprised him. He'd never enquired about the former Time Agent's past. He knew too well from experience that it was sometimes better to leave the past to rest.

When they'd met Jack during the London blitz, he'd been trying to con them and had nearly wiped out most of the city's population, but he'd never seen this side of Jack before and he wasn't sure he wouldn't have dumped him on the nearest habitable planet, if he had.

The Doctor's dark reverie was broken by a surge of pain. The storage hall was dissolving around him. The Doctor got a last glimpse of Jack lying on the ground unconscious, surrounded by several heavily armed men in Time Agency uniforms, before he was sucked back into the swirling vortex of memories.

oOo

It wasn't real. None of it was. Although Jack could feel the damp cold of the cell seep into his bones, hear the screams of the other prisoners and even smell the stench of unwashed bodies, urine and excrement, part of him knew he wasn't really trapped in a cell on Kiraion Prime. True, it had happened, but that was the past, nothing but an unpleasant memory.

Everything felt so real, down the to the pain of his crushed wrist and the stench, his mind had a hard time believing it was nothing more than a nightmare he couldn't seem to escape.

The give-away came when he looked up and found a vaguely familiar man in a leather jacket casually leaning in the doorway of his cell.

"Who are you?" Jack knew he had seen the man before, but he couldn't seem to penetrate the fog filling his mind.

"I'm the Doctor," the man replied. His voice was cold and there was something in his expression Jack couldn't quite identify. Still, he crouched down in front of Jack, studying him closely.

"Are we acquainted, or something?" This Doctor fellow wasn't a bad looking guy, nor did Jack usually mind this kind of detailed attention, but being seized up like this inside a jail cell, on a prison planet, made even Jack slightly uneasy.

"Jack, try to concentrate. What is the last thing you remember?" The Doctor crouched down in front of Jack.

"Are you serious?" Jack raised a questioning eyebrow. The effect was rather ruined by the coughing fit that shook him moments later. Jack was busy struggling to breathe against the sharp pain from his broken ribs, when the stranger suddenly grabbed him, forcing him to look at him.

"Jack, listen to me. Concentrate on the last thing you remember. What happened before you came here?"

"What's it to you?" Jack retorted. If this was a new interrogation technique, they had picked the wrong man.

"We first met in London in 1941. You were trying to con us into buying a phoney war ship. Nearly wiped out the human race in the process."

None of it made any sense to Jack, but images started to flash through his mind. They were only brief, disjointed burst of times and places he'd never been to and people he couldn't identify. Still, they felt familiar like they belonged there.

"Rose."

"Yes. She needs our help. She needs your help, Jack."

"What happened?" More memories came rushing back to his mind.

"That's what I need to you to remember."

"I can't," Jack said, shaking his head.

"Yes, you can. Close your eyes and concentrate."

Jack did as he was told. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain and the cold. He felt the touch of warm hands on his temples and a second later everything disappeared.

oOo

Jack woke with a start. A wave of relief washed through him when he opened his eyes and found something other than the cell he had occupied for months. Wherever he was, it had to count as an improvement. Jack turned his eyes from the high, vaulted ceiling and looked around the room.

It was then that he noticed he wasn't alone. Slumped asleep in a chair was a familiar man. For months, Jack had seen him in the oddest places. He'd spotted him from the corner of his eye, but when he'd turned around there had been no one. On his worst days on Kiraion, when he'd been staring at the walls for hours, he'd even seen him standing in a corner of his cell. When he'd blinked, the apparition had vanished. Jack had been convinced he was finally losing it, but now there he was, the same man.

But this time, the man didn't disappear. Jack pushed himself up to sit on a fragile looking divan and blinked several times, just to be sure, but the man was still there, looking as solid and real as the rest of the room. Jack wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

He weighed his options as well as the haze in his mind allowed. He was decidedly unarmed and didn't exactly feel up to a fist fight either, even though his physical injuries seemed to have been healed. The stranger made the decision for Jack when he suddenly snapped awake.

"Jack! There you are." A smile was spreading over the stranger's face and he seemed genuinely pleased to see Jack.

"Who are you?" Jack narrowed his eyes at him.

"Oh, I thought that might happen," the man muttered before addressing Jack again. "I'm the Doctor."

"Okay, since we already established who I am, next question. Two, actually. Where are we and how did I get here?"

"This is the TARDIS." The Doctor waved at the room in general. "We've actually been travelling together for a while."

"That I would remember," Jack said with a smirk, giving the Doctor an appraising look. He preferred being on first name basis before getting better acquainted, but that wasn't a must in his book.

"Trust me; you don't want to have that conversation," the Doctor said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"For a hallucination, you aren't exactly accommodating. I should have come up with something better," Jack said lightly, but he wasn't willing to let his guard down.

The Doctor didn't seem insulted, but Jack didn't expect a hallucination to have an ego anyways.

"No hallucination, I'm afraid." The Doctor didn't elaborate further, placing the ball firmly in Jack's court. The intense look the Doctor was giving him, made him uncomfortable. He was looking at him like he was an experiment about to go bad at any second.

"All right, let's play. Assuming we both are really here and this…TARDIS of yours actually exists – explain to me how I've been seeing you pop up in all sorts of places over the last two years. Are you some sort of time-travelling stalker?"

"Half right. I do travel in time, but I wasn't really there when you saw me. You just remember me being there."

"So, it was all in my head. You know, I probably shouldn't be having this conversation, especially since I'm really talking to myself." Jack laughed mirthlessly. His memories were slowly coming back like a mosaic being re-assembled. He remembered how he'd finally been dragged out of his cell, only to find Turner, his superior at the Time Agency waiting for him in the interrogation room.

"I don't remember you being that thick the last time we met," the Doctor commented.

"I think I'm entitled to be a little bit off my game when someone's trying to wipe my memories." Only when he'd spoken, Jack realized what he'd just said. It suddenly made sense. He'd been ready to inflict some serious damage on Turner, preferably after he'd gotten some answer, when Turner had pulled out a blaster.

Jack had thought Turner was going to finish him off, when he'd kneeled down.

"I'm really sorry I can't just kill you, but protocol, you know…."

"They tried to erase my memories. But it couldn't have worked. I still remember, I remember everything. It makes no sense. It should have worked," Jack said more to himself than to his imaginary companion.

"It actually did. For a while anyways," the Doctor spoke after a long pause.

"That's impossible. There is no way to bring back memories that have been wiped."

"Not in the 51st century maybe. I'm still not sure how it happened. Your memories weren't so much wiped, as blocked. The problem with removing this kind of memory block is that it's usually fatal, so even of someone figured out how to do it, it wouldn't be a smart thing to do. I think I can restore the block, but it's your choice."

"How much time did Turner erase?"

"About two years."

"I've spent all that time tracking down a bunch of mercenaries. Turner must have thought I'd gotten the information before they arrested me." Jack sudden realized something. He jumped up and grabbed the Doctor by the shoulders. "You have a time machine, right?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Good, then it isn't too late yet. The Time Agency has to know about Turner and his mercenaries. They have to be stopped."

"You realize..."

"Of course I do." Jack interrupted the Doctor, already knowing what the Doctor was going to say. "I've been around time travel long enough to know not to mess with history, but it's already happened."

The expression on the Doctor's face changed to one of puzzlement and alarm. "What do you mean?"

"The mercenaries are the ones messing with time! The Time Agency never managed to track them down. I was in this bar on Ophilion, purely for business reasons of course, when I ran into a guy looking for independent contractors," Jack explained impatiently. He didn't have the time to go into details when history was at stake, but the Doctor seemed unimpressed. For a fleeting moment, Jack wondered if the whole thing might just be one big set-up by the mercenaries or the Time Agency, but the Doctor didn't seem like the guy either of them would trust. Jack wasn't sure he trusted the Doctor. What he'd said made sense, but he hadn't volunteered any information about himself, nor did he apparently care about a bunch of time-meddling mercenaries.

"I haven't picked up any unusual ripples in time." The Doctor shrugged. Although I see your point, going back to the 51st century could be a bit of a problem. Without knowing exactly how much time passed since you left, you'd risk running into someone who knows you shouldn't be there or worse, run into yourself."

Jack had to concede that the man had a point. He should have thought of that himself, but apparently his brain wasn't fully working yet.

"I'd hate to be arrested by the Time Agency. The last time they tried to dismantle the TARDIS..."

The Doctor's words were drowned out by the flash of lightening that surged through Jack's mind. For a moment, he could see everything that had happened at once, all at the same time and a million times more intense than any memory he'd every experienced. The images vanished as quickly as they had come, but left Jack reeling with the shock of the experience. He stumbled back to sit on the divan, hardly aware of what was going on around him. He felt his legs weaken and would have fallen if the Doctor hadn't caught him and guided him to sit down.

The world was slowly starting to come back to him and the pain in his head lessened. "It's starting." It wasn't a question. Jack knew what was happening to him and he knew the Doctor knew as well.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, shaking his head.

"How long?"

"A few hours." The Doctor walked over to the divan and sat down next to Jack. "I'll take you back to the 51st century, if that's what you want. It's your choice, but there is something you should know..." The Doctor hesitated. "When you got into this mess, you were together with a friend of mine."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. Apparently you were separated at some point."

"She doesn't have the time for me to gallivant around the 51st century."

"It's not that; we could be back here five minutes after we left."

"Time Machine, I forgot." Still, Jack realized what the Doctor meant. It was ironic, but there simply wasn't enough time to go back in time.

"Tell me about this friend."

"Her name's Rose," the Doctor corrected indignantly. Apparently it was a touchy subject.

"Okay, tell me about Rose."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

oOo

Jack switched off the data-recorder and sat back for a moment. His head was aching terribly and it was only sheer willpower that had carried him through the last three hours. It was impossible to capture two entire years in just a few short hours, but he wanted to make sure that he did what was necessary even if he couldn't remember anymore. Knowing himself, he would need a lot of convincing to believe what had happened, but he hoped the recording and the Doctor would see to it that he did. Jack pulled the data chip from the recorder and went to find the Doctor.

The Doctor was still in the same room where Jack had woken up, bent over a computer display. He seemed to be immersed in whatever he was doing, but his posture was tense. He looked up immediately when Jack stepped into the doorway.

"I made this recording." He handed the Doctor a data chip without further explanation. The Doctor looked at him questioningly.

"Well, I'm going to forget everything about the last two years in a few hours, but I figured I should use the time to record a message. I'm probably not going to believe myself anyways, since this is exactly the kind of dirty trick the Time Agency would get up to, but maybe..."

"I'll convince you." The Doctor didn't smile.

"Good, then that's settled. I still can't believe that I ended up in a flying police box," Jack declared with forced levity.

"Hey, hey, the TARDIS outlasted your stolen ship by a few millennia," the Doctor protested jokingly.

"Seriously? Where did you get it?" Despite his headache, Jack couldn't help but wonder just who the Doctor really was.

"Maybe I'll tell you later, after we find Rose and sort out this mess of yours. Ready?" the Doctor asked, serious again.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Jack wasn't ready in the least, but he'd drop dead before he admitted that to anyone. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, hoping that he wasn't about to make a huge mistake.

oOo

The Doctor cast a last look back at Jack, who was sleeping peacefully and would do so for quite a while. After first the Time Agency and now the Demarans had messed with Jack's rather fragile human mind, the Doctor hadn't really wanted to add to the psychic strain, but he didn't have time to wait for Jack to wake up and tell him what had happened to him in the temple.

His own head ached and he felt fatigue like he hadn't in a long time after exercising his mental abilities for the first time in years. He knew he needed to rest in order to recover, but Rose couldn't wait for that. From what the Doctor had seen in Jack's mind, it might already be too late for Rose.

An hour later, however, his anger had made way to frustration and a serious headache. He had easily traced back his steps from the previous night and made it to the village in just over half an hour. There was no shortage of village folk during daylight, but getting any meaningful information had been next to impossible. After the guards at the temple hadn't bothered to answer his questions, the Doctor had turned to ask around the market.

"I'm sorry, but nothing happened here yesterday, or the day before. Sometimes the Sisters come down to the village, but they haven't been here in many days," the stocky merchant woman replied in a friendly tone, but she seemed more interested in her fish than his questions.

"Are you certain? Two of my friends were here yesterday. They were arrested for breaking into the temple?" the Doctor asked, still hoping to jog her memory.

The woman smiled, but shook her head and turned back to her customers. Everyone he had talked to had given the exact same response. Nothing unusual had happened in weeks and there hadn't been any strangers around as long as anyone could remember. It was if the previous day had never happened. The villagers didn't seem deceiving; everyone had been friendly and replied freely to his questions. Still, the Doctor was convinced that there was more to the village than what could be seen at first glance. Although normally this was just the kind of mystery that would intrigue him, this time the Doctor couldn't have cared less about the sinister happenings around him. He needed to find Rose and he needed to find her fast and then there was Jack's mess in the 51st century to sort out. Prioritize, the Doctor told himself--Rose first, everything else later. Glancing over to the temple, lost in thought, the Doctor suddenly had an idea. It might not work, but if he was right about what was happening to the villagers, chances were the guards wouldn't even recall him from earlier.

He turned back to the merchant. "How much would that be for a basket of your best fish?"

"Twenty-three Solis for the whole basket. It's a good bargain. My husband just caught them this morning. You won't find better anywhere."

"I'm sure I won't," the Doctor replied. He rummaged in his pocket and found a couple of odd-shaped coins which the woman gladly accepted. Mentally thanking the TARDIS for her foresight, the Doctor grabbed his newly acquired fish and made his way towards the temple. He jogged up the steps to the entrance for the second time that day, balancing the basket of fish on his shoulder. The guards regarded him blankly with no sign of recognition on their faces as the Doctor stopped in front of them and demonstratively set down the basket.

"Oi, delivery for the kitchens. Mind letting me through?"

"Delivery for the kitchens?" For a moment, the Doctor thought the guards remembered him after all, but they seemed to almost look through him.

"Right here, I'll be in and out in a minute," the Doctor lied. The guards stepped aside, granting him entrance into the temple. Once he was around the corner and out of sight of the guards, he abandoned all pretence and put down the basket. The smell would attract attention sooner rather than later, but by then, he'd hopefully be gone again. Using what he knew of the layout from the previous night and from Jack's memories, finding the heart of the temple was fairly easy. The hallways were deserted. He found his way to the hall where Jack and Rose had interrupted the ceremony the other day, without encountering anyone.

The hall was almost completely dark. A few dozen candles stood in a shrine on the far end. The Doctor stepped in closer to examine the centrepiece, a large crystal, but he saw the reflection in it a moment too late.

"Do not move," a strong voice commanded. "You should not be in here."

The Doctor turned around and was faced with a small, elderly woman. There was something in her examining glance that set her apart from the almost mindless seeming Demarans.

"I'm sorry. I seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere. I was looking for the kitchens."

"We both know that is not true. Your ship crashed on this planet. There were three of you on board. You are looking for your young friends."

"I'm impressed." The Doctor folded his arms in front of his chest, not ready to give in to scare tactics. Anyone with half a mind could have pieced together that he was looking for Jack and Rose. "You seem to be the only one who remembers them at all."

"I'm sorry about your friends. It was an accident; we didn't intent to harm them."

"But what happened to them is a bit convenient, isn't it? They saw something they shouldn't have seen, and then they disappeared. When I found Jack, he was half-dead."

"They shouldn't have come here. They couldn't understand what they saw. The young woman would not have been harmed. It was merely a misunderstanding."

"So you just went out and erased their memories over a misunderstanding? Why can you people never talk to each other?" the Doctor said more to himself.

"I was giving them a gift. What happened was an unfortunate accident. If I could undo it, I would."

"Listen, if you want to help Rose, tell me where I can find her."

"I assure you she is well."

"Mind control, right? That is what you do with everyone here. No one can remember Jack and Rose. But how do you do it? Controlling the minds of everyone in this city must take an enormous amount of psychic energy. No single humanoid could control such power. But this crystal of yours just might."

The Doctor whirled around to the crystal.

"If you were using some sort of amplifier for your powers, it just might work. Still, I don't see how this could work for long. The amount of power this would take..."

Genuinely curious now, the Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and turned to examine the crystal.

"It's alive." The Doctor repeated his scan, but the result was the same. "It's an independent mind...a crystalline life form. I was right, no humanoid could do this."

"Indeed, you are right." Suddenly, the form of the old woman shifted, shedding its humanoid shape and morphing into a large scaly reptilian-looking creature with fangs and long claws.

"Well, I certainly understand why you wouldn't want to show the Demarans your true form," the Doctor commented dryly.

"Or you for that matter..." it hissed sharply.

The Doctor was caught off guard when the creature swung one of its long claws at him. He managed to dodge the blow at the last second, but the creature had him backed against the wall, advancing relentlessly towards him. He scrambled to the floor, trying to adjust the sonic screwdriver while trying to avoid being pierced by long, pointy claws. The claws smashed into the wall where his head had been a second earlier, causing bits and pieces of rubble to rain down on him. The Doctor got back to his feet and ran as fast as he could while activating the sonic screwdriver. The creature screamed, contorting in pain, but still not abandoning its pursuit of the Doctor. It lashed out wildly in uncontrolled rage, oblivious to the perilous tremors shaking the entire structure. The supporting pillars were groaning under the strain, and when the claws struck one of them dead center, it crumbled, leaving behind only rumble and dust. Deprived of vital support and weakened by the sonic waves, cracks spread through the ceiling. Bigger pieces of rocks started to fall down, but the creature was still going after the Doctor. The Doctor sought out the safest place in the crumbling structure -- the alcove housing the shrine. It wasn't exactly the sturdy closet that had saved them when Downing Street had been reduced to rubble, but it would have to do.

"Listen," he screamed over the noise. "I can stop this. Maybe we can both get out of this alive!"

The creature only stopped its pursuit for a moment, looming over the trapped Doctor.

Remembering what had happened to Jack and Rose, the Doctor flung himself at the crystal. There was a flash of blue light and the Doctor was thrown into hell.

oOo

It was dark. The Doctor could see nothing, feel nothing and sense nothing. Suddenly sound broke into the void. Voices were everywhere. They were seeping into his mind, drowning out every independent thought. Thousands, maybe millions of voices were whispering at the same time. They were the voices of the Demarans, trapped inside the crystal and he was trapped with them.

_Get out! I know what you are trying to do and it won't work. Get out of my head!_

Each thought took enormous effort, but they were like anchors in a sea of voices.

_You might be able to see into my mind, but I can see into yours. It works both ways. How's that for a trade?_

The voices faded as suddenly as they had come. The Doctor felt control return to his body, and he immediately slammed into something hard and unyielding. The pain of the impact was the best thing he'd felt all day.

"That's better. I take it you're who they call the Keeper," the Doctor commented and sat up and rubbed his sore ribs, glad to be able to hear his own voice. Aware that it was nothing but a mental representation, he looked around. The Keeper had chosen an apt environment – a cavern carved into blue crystal. On a series of steps sat the form of the old woman the Keeper chose to represent herself to the Demarans.

"You know, I was wrong. It was a neat trick, changing into this creature, making me think it was real. But it was just another projection, wasn't it? It could never have killed me."

"You are right. I have no form as you could understand it. I chose a form that was appropriate for the moment," the woman told him.

"Well, it worked. You got me where you wanted me – as part of your hive mind. And since you've seen my thoughts you know you just need to wait, to wear me out until you can add me to your collection."

The woman's face contorted in anger. "I gave the Demarans a gift. I can give the same to you."

"I'm fine, thank you."

"You forget that I have seen your mind. You travel with others, but you're really alone. You didn't want to, but you survived the war. You're the last. I saw the images that haunt you. I can help you forget."

"I don't need your help. I did what I had to do to stop the Daleks. There was no other way!"

"But there was and you know that. You could have destroyed them a long time ago and you didn't. It is because of you that they are all dead. You killed them."

The Doctor took a deep breath, determined not to let himself be provoked again. The Keeper had read his mind; she knew exactly where to hit him.

"What about a deal?" the Doctor asked after a pause.

"What kind of deal do you propose?"

The Doctor felt for the sonic screwdriver in his pocket, before he made up his mind.

"You have the mind of my friend in here somewhere. I want you to let her go. In return, I will stay."

"It is acceptable," the Keeper agreed. "You will surrender yourself and I shall release your friend."

"First, let her go. I want to make sure she is all right," the Doctor demanded.

"As you wish." The Keeper waved her hand and one of the cave's walls became transparent. As if looking through light blue glass, the Doctor could see into the temple hall. In a flash of light, Rose materialized.

"What's happening to her?" The Doctor asked when Rose fell to her knees, seemingly gasping for breath.

"She will be fine." As if on command, Rose appeared to calm down. She got to her feet and looked around, obviously confused. "As you see, she is quite all right. Now it is time to uphold your end of the bargain."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I have to do this." The Doctor switched on the sonic screwdriver. "But I can't let you keep the Demarans."

The Keeper started screaming. Her form twitched, contorted and then vanished. Outside, Rose disappeared.

"I don't understand. What have you done?" It was a different voice, inside the Doctor's head – the crystals true voice.

"The only thing I could do. Destroy you."

"What about your friend? Do you want her to die?"

"No, but that out there wasn't Rose."

"How do you know?"

"You said it yourself. You cannot undo it. You can only absorb people, but you can't let them go again. It's not what you were meant to do."

"Then let me live. I have a right to live."

"You have lived for a very long time and the Demarans haven't lived at all. For generations, they have existed only to keep you alive. That's not living. That's barely existing."

"I will never die. Not as long as there are people on this planet!" It screamed inside the Doctor's head. "Who are you to judge who lives and who dies? You have always survived."

"Not by choice. And now we're both going to die." The sonic screwdriver was glowing hot in the Doctor's hand. He disabled the last security setting, and then the world dissolved into whiteness.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

oOo

Rose stretched her arms and took a sip from her long cold tea. The crimp in her neck was threatening to become permanent and she knew she really needed a shower. For five days, she had done nothing but wait – wait for the Doctor to wake up. She still didn't quite know what had happened, but between Jack's memories and what the natives had told them, the Doctor had saved all of their lives.

The Demarans had found the Doctor in the rubble of the temple. It had been destroyed completely and it was a miracle that he hadn't been crushed to death.

"How is he?"

Rose turned around to see Jack standing in the doorway to the med bay.

"I don't know. The computer says there's still no change," she sighed. "I've tried to find something in the TARDIS database but it's all just squiggles. The TARDIS isn't translating anything. It's as if she's sick along with the Doctor. I don't think there is anything we can do."

"Here, I brought you something to eat. Well, the Demarans actually did. Some sort of fruit rolls." Jack handed her a pastry. "They're not so bad. Neither are some of the Demaran women..."

Rose didn't listen. She took an experimental bite from the fruit roll. Jack was right, they really were quite good, filled with something sweet and gooey that vaguely reminded her of strawberry jam. The sweet taste reminded her that she couldn't recall the last time she'd had a proper meal. The Demarans, themselves struggling with the sudden changes, were treating them almost with deference. They had offered to let them stay in the village as long as they wanted, but Rose and Jack had decided that they should take the Doctor back to the TARDIS.

"Rose, it's been nearly a week. How long are you going to do this?" Jack asked gently.

"He saved us, he saved everyone. We can't just abandon him."

"I'm not saying we should, but we have to try to get out of here."

"Any luck getting the TARDIS to work?" Rose asked, already knowing the answer. Rose didn't understand how, but the TARDIS and the Doctor were tied together. One wouldn't function correctly without the other.

"Not much. Short of short-circuiting, I've tried everything," Jack said. "I'm usually the last to admit it, but we're stuck. The Doctor isn't getting any better."

"You don't know that," Rose protested but she was afraid that Jack was right. They were going to spend the rest of their lives on Demara. She would never see Jackie and Mickey again. Rose fought to hold back tears – suddenly the universe seemed anything but wonderful and while she didn't want to miss all the things the Doctor had shown her, part of her wished she'd just stayed in her dead-end job at the department store.

"Get some sleep. I'll stay here with him," Jack offered.

"No, you're right. We need to get the TARDIS to work."

Jack left quietly.

Rose pulled out the piece of crystal again. It was the only thing left of the crystal, a single blue shard and was also the only thing that remained of the Keeper and the Doctor. She had kept it in her pocket ever since one of the Demarans had given it to her. It had seemed wrong for her to accept it for the crystal had been sacred to the Demarans for centuries, but she had eventually given in, accepting the gesture of gratitude. She hadn't told Jack about the crystal shard. She had wanted too, but something had held her back. Rose couldn't explain it herself, but whenever she held the crystal, it felt warm as if it was somehow alive.

For the hundredth time, she closed her fist around the crystal, hoping for something, anything to happen.

At first, there was nothing, like all the other times before. She was about to give up in disappointment when suddenly the crystal warmed, heating in her hand to the point of being painfully hot.

oOo

Rose woke with a start. She opened her eyes and relief washed over her. It had all been a dream. She was still in her bedroom aboard the TARDIS exactly where she had gone to bed the previous night. But when she opened her hand, she found that she was clutching a small blue crystal. Rose regarded it, puzzled. It was the same crystal that had been in her dream. Rose shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs of sleep. She wasn't sure what to make of the dream, or the crystal. Sensing that it might be something important, she decided to ask the Doctor about it later.

Rose got dressed, hungry and eager for breakfast. She headed for the TARDIS kitchen, which miraculously was always well stocked, even though she had never seen the Doctor go shopping for groceries. Amused at the mental image, she rounded a bend, when she noticed the acrid smell of something burning. The smell came from the kitchen and when she arrived she found Jack, muttering something that was presumably an alien language and obviously not something the TARDIS deemed worthy of translation.

Smoke rose from the charred remnants of what looked like the toaster.

"Rose," Jack said, coughing, trying to wave away the smoke. "When did you last use the toaster?"

"Yesterday," Rose replied, taking in the scene. There was something very familiar about it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. An uneasy feeling took hold in the back of her mind, like a persistent nagging voice, telling her that there was something she had forgotten.

"It set itself on fire," Jack said plaintively. "And it burned my toast." He pointed to two pieces of toast that looked more like charcoal than bread.

"I can see that. Wait. Jack?"

"Yes, that's me," Jack said, grinning. "I didn't singe my hair, did I?"

"No seriously. I've been here before."

"It's the TARDIS kitchen. I think I saw you here, having a midnight snack only last night."

"No, that's not what I mean. The toaster, setting itself on fire and everything else – it's happened before."

Jack suddenly grew serious. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely, I'm sure."

"What happened next?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure." Rose tried to remember, but the dream was fading fast.

"Think, Rose, it could be important." Jack grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

"The gravity was cutting out and then the TARDIS…it's going to crash." Rose broke free and started running for the console room before she could finish the sentence.

"How did you know.?" Jack called, following directly after her.

oOo

"Doctor!" Rose burst into the console room, breathless from the run. The Doctor was leaning against the console, a cup of tea in hand.

"Don't, don't move." Rose yelled, but it was too late, the Doctor whirled around, dropping the cup on the console.

"Oh, no!" Rose cried as the TARDIS lurched and she realized it hadn't just been a horrible nightmare. She needed to tell Jack and the Doctor, but she couldn't. She couldn't change history; she'd learned that lesson when she'd tried to save her father.

With the Doctor momentarily distracted, Rose reached for the crystal in her pocket. Like before, it felt warm to the touch.

"Come on," she muttered, feeling more than slightly stupid. "Come on, tell me what to do next. There has to be something I can do!"

It came to her in a flash. Like in dream, she found herself going over to the console, reaching for the sonic screwdriver the Doctor had left lying there. She picked it up, her fingers acting as if controlled by someone else.

oOo

"I'm not saying we should, but we have to try to get out of here."

"Huh? Didn't you just say that a moment ago?" Rose looked at Jack. She had a sudden intense feeling of déjà-vu. "Uhm, did you have any luck getting the TARDIS to work?" she asked eventually, sure that she had asked the question already. But then, they had hardly been talking about anything else the past few days.

"Not much. Short of short-circuiting, I've tried everything. I'm usually…"

Rose didn't listen. Distractedly she felt for the shard of crystal in her pocket. Her hand closed around it, but it felt cold now.

"I swear, if you touch the TARDIS, I'm going to leave you on the next planet and I don't care if it's habitable."

"What did you just say?" Rose asked Jack, then it clicked. The Doctor was looking up at her and Jack. He looked terrible, but he was definitely awake. "Doctor! Are you all right?"

"Ow, no yelling, please," the Doctor said and sat up. "Headache." He fingered the gash on his forehead.

"You look like hell," Jack commented.

"You two don't look any better. Not that I'm unhappy to be still around, but what happened?"

"We don't know. Somehow, the Keeper's dead and then the temple collapsed. The Demarans helped us dig you out of the rubble. You've been unconscious for five days. We didn't think you were going to wake up..." Rose couldn't hold back the tears anymore, but they were tears of joy.

"The sonic screwdriver!" the Doctor called out suddenly. "Did you find it?"

"You've been unconscious for a week and you're worried about the sonic screwdriver?" Rose couldn't help but laugh.

"I happen to be attached to it. It's gotten me out of a lot of tight spots over the years," the Doctor explained defensively.

"Here." Rose handed it to the Doctor. "We found it in the rubble."

The Doctor regarded the object, fondly, switched it on and frowned. "It didn't overload." The Doctor started grinning madly. "It _didn't _overload."

"You tried to overload it? Why?" Jack asked.

"Resonating concrete, remember? It actually works with crystals," the Doctor paused, then he stared at Rose. "Rose?"

"I'm here," Rose said, still laughing giddily.

"I'm sorry, but I messed with your sonic screwdriver. I don't actually know what I did but I'm glad it worked. There is something else I think I should give back," Rose said and handed the Doctor the crystal shard.

"Ah, the last of the Keeper. I'll have to find a safe place for it. I can't let her get away again."

"Would anyone mind filling me in?" Jack interrupted, obviously confused. "The Demarans told us the Keeper had been destroyed."

"The crystal really was the Keeper, well a crystalline life form. It's incredibly hard to kill them – as long as a piece of the crystal survives, they live on."

"Then how did you break her control, without destroying the crystal?"

"It wasn't just the Keeper in the crystal. Emotions are a powerful thing. The Keeper kept the Demarans sheltered for centuries. You saw them - no conflicts, no violence, no emotions because nothing ever happened while everything was under the Keeper's psychic control. At least it was until the TARDIS showed up. The Keeper's control started breaking up right then and there."

"The woman we heard screaming in the temple." Jack realized. "We set everything in motion."

"Yes and no. The Keeper had to use much more of her energy to absorb the Demarans' reactions to us, weakening her control over them. You just made it worse when you stormed into the temple and created more conflict, more emotions the Keeper couldn't handle."

"Like ripples in a pond," Rose thought out loud.

"Something like that," the Doctor agreed. "I didn't realize how everything worked until the Keeper tried to absorb me into her hive mind. She couldn't control me for too long, too many emotions and too many memories to absorb. When the Demarans realized I was going to destroy the crystal, they were afraid for the first time. The emotional rush was so powerful that it broke the Keeper's control over them."

"Then why did you overload the sonic screwdriver?" Rose asked, confused.

"Well, I had to get out, too. If I hadn't broken up the crystal, Rose wouldn't have gotten my message, asking her to change the settings on the sonic screwdriver."

"Not that I'm complaining that you're still around, but what about me?" Jack asked.

"I think you could use this." The Doctor handed the crystal shard Rose had given him over to Jack.

"What…" Jack started, turning over the crystal in his palm, when his face lit up with realization. "You didn't just record a message to Rose."

The Doctor shrugged.

"I wasn't sure it would work at all, but I thought in case it did, you'd like to have it."

The End


End file.
